In mid-September, they won court approval to pay out $16 million in bonuses to ensure that they would be able to carry out their restructuring plan. The settlement agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency also required that they continue to comply with any cleanup work consent decrees, cleanup work orders, and contamination discovery and cleanup during their restructuring process.

Exide was already under close scrutiny after having been forced to temporarily suspend operations earlier this year, when the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) submitted evidence from the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) showing that, beyond exceeding levels of hazardous emissions (including arsenic), their underground pipelines — which carry up to 310,000 gallons of contaminant-laden wastewater a day — were degraded and in violation of California standards. (see those docs here)

While L.A. County Superior Court Judge Luis Lavin had sided with Exide’s claim that the plant did not pose “an imminent and substantial” threat to the community and allowed them to resume operations in July, health authorities were not so easily reassured. In response, the Department of Health took the unprecedented step of offering as many as a quarter of a million people the opportunity to have their blood tested for lead exposure.

The notion that it might be necessary to test such a vast population was incredibly unnerving to the community and served to underscore the seriousness of threats that Exide’s emissions could pose, especially to children.

To add to the confusion, last week, people began receiving dense and inscrutable legal notices from Exide in their mailboxes.

The letters demanded that residents claiming personal injuries incurred prior to Exide’s shutdown in June submit proof of their damages by October 31st of this year.

The rush to get claims in, it appears, is linked to the effort to determine the extent to which there has been harm to the community so that the calculations can be included in the next phase of bankruptcy proceedings the plant’s parent company is undergoing in Delaware. And also, it seems, to ensure that any claimants unable to file petitions now would be exempted from being able to pursue claims against Exide in the future.

But how exactly does one offer proof of personal injury?

The ability of the blood tests to show anything more than recent and/or acute exposure or to trace any lead back to Exide appears debatable. Moreover, the testing of blood for lead exposure has not yet begun in earnest and testing for arsenic — one of the emissions for which Exide has been cited and a known carcinogen — is not being offered because it usually requires tests of urine, hair, and/or fingernails in addition to blood in order to be conclusive. Moreover, dust and soil sampling in the area is still underway, meaning even Exide itself has not yet determined exactly what kinds or quantities of hazardous chemicals have settled in the affected communities.

The alarm the letters have raised among residents spurred State Senators Kevin de Leon and Ricardo Lara to launch a protest with Judge Kevin Carey, who is overseeing the parent corporation’s bankruptcy proceedings. Citing the brief window of time, the lack of access to legal assistance of their constituents, and the fact that many in the community are only now beginning to grasp the extent to which toxic emissions may be affecting them, the senators have asked for the personal injury claims to be exempted from the proceedings altogether or, at the very least, given a six-month extension.

“The bankruptcy process is designed to give debtors a second chance,” write De Leon and Lara, not a pass for poisoning communities.”

If you would like help with understanding or filing a claim, be sure to attend the meeting next Monday, October 21st, at 6 pm at Resurrection Church, located at 3324 Opal St., Los Angeles, CA 90023.

For residents who were unable to attend last nights meeting are there any other scheduled meetings addressing this topic?

sahra

I don’t know of any at the moment, but I will keep my eyes open and be sure to let folks know. Given the very short time window for people to lodge complaints and the appeal by de Leon and Lara, I’m guessing this won’t be the last.

Judge Lavin apparently has a very conservative bias, siding with the pocket book of a polluter over the health of the general population.

sahra

It is a *bit* troubling that a quarter of a million people are thought to be at risk, and there is no concern with regard to making sure we understand the extent of the risk/damage before allowing Exide to reopen, even as it continues to violate emissions standards.

Word On The Street

“...currently in Metro rail's budget 25% of that goes to security of the system. Not towards more service but security of the system. I wouldn't be so harsh and cynical about this had the Sheriff's been more visible at all Metro stations...”